1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a high capacity dispenser apparatus capable of ejecting coins or tokens of a disk-like form from a substantial reservoir of bulk loose coins, and in particular, a large capacity ejection device for ejecting the coins one at a time, which is suitable for game machines in which a large quantity of tokens or coins are used to play the games and it is desired to efficiently dispense all of the tokens or coins.
2. Description of Related Art
Various types of coin ejection devices have been used with a coin feeding circular plate which rotates within a pot-like cylindrical container that can store tokens or coins in loose loading or bulk conditions. These coin ejection devices can be positioned in an upright, inclined position so that coins are picked up and fed out from within the container in a one-by-one arrangement. Such a coin ejection device wherein coins can be continuously discharged at a high speed is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-152852 (1994) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,094. Referring to FIG. 5, a prospective view of a coin feeding device is disclosed, with a cross-sectional view illustrated in FIG. 6. A coin feeding disk 2 is in the shape of a cylindrical drum or thick plate, and has multiple coin receiving holes 5 positioned about the periphery of the plate. The plate can rotate clockwise about a center rotating axis 12. As shown, the plate 2 is rotating within a large pot-like cylindrical container 1 by an electric motor (not shown). Coins positioned in the container 1 are stirred by the interaction of projections 6 that are formed along a circumferential wall 4 that extends from the plate 2. The rotation of the plate 2 can stir the coins so that they can fit into the multiple coin receiving holes 5 that are opened in the circumferential direction as they rotate to the bottom of the disk 2.
Coins that enter the receiving holes 5 are able to pass through the receiving holes 5 and are slidably held on the surface of a large square support plate 11 as they are moved to a coin ejection opening 23 that is illustrated at the left side of FIG. 5. A coin feeding claw (not shown) assists in moving the coins and is held at the surface of the large square supporting plate 11 in a freely slideable manner adjacent to the back surface of plate 2. A guiding plate 15 is formed on the surface of the support plate 11 and a flange surrounding wall 22 is used for attaching the container 1. A coin which is pushed and moved with the feeding claw (not shown) can be guided by the flange surrounding wall 22 of the container 1 and the guiding plate 15. The coin is finally guided by a fixed guide roller (not shown) and a movable guide roller 26 to be ejected out from the coin outlet 23.
There are problems, however, in this arrangement in that the container 1 has a comparatively small capacity when ejecting coins at a high speed. Thus, although the ability to eject coins or disks at a high speed can be accomplished, the supply of coins are quickly exhausted. This can become particularly a problem in game machines wherein a large quantity of tokens are used to play games and, accordingly, the operation of the game machine would be interrupted if the tokens ran out during the game.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,495 discloses a high capacity coin hopper that relies upon the time intervals associated with a coin counter-mechanism to coordinate the driving of a pinwheel motor and a cylinder drive motor.
European Patent Application 501,607AI discloses a mechanism for dispensing coins from a spring supported coin bowl.
There is still a need in the art to improve the efficient use of the storage capacity of dispensers of coins and tokens that are to be ejected with reliable and economical components and to substantially reduce the replenishment requirements during the operation of a gaming machine.